A Hunterdon County motorist who required spinal fusion surgery after his car was struck from behind accepted $550,000 last Tuesday to settle his suit.

The accident occurred on April 10, 1997, while Keith Keiderling was stopped at a red light in Princeton. Eva Garrido-Diez, an au pair who was running an errand for her employers, Kathy and Gustav Vik of Princeton, struck Keiderling's car from behind.

Keiderling, now 48, suffered herniated disks at two spots on his spine, requiring spinal fusion surgery, says his attorney, Steven Cahn, a partner with Eichen, Levinson, Cahn & Parra in Edison. Cahn says Keiderling, a bridge painter, could not work for a year.

Steven Sloan, who represented State Farm Insurance, which paid $250,000 of the settlement, says some of the treatment to Keiderling's back was for injuries that occurred before the accident. Sloan, a partner with Seigel & Seigel in Plainsboro, also says that Keiderling was terminated from his job not because of physical injuries but because of unrelated work circumstances.

The settlement calls for an upfront $550,000 payment and another $50,000 to be placed in an annuity yielding $35,000 in 2007 and $51,322 in 2012, to cover college costs for Keiderling's two youngest children.

The Viks, who were also defendants, had excess coverage through Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., which paid $300,000 of the settlement.